Centrifugal casting machine



Jun 12, 1945.

H. ANDREWS CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE Fil-ed'Jan. 11, 1943 5 sheetsshe'et l flnadLu Annksws hwzwrok I A rrormc Jufie 1945- H ANDREWS2,377,917

CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE Filed Jan. 11,- 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 F I6.I

CONTINUED HAROLD R NDRE ws ATTORNEY June 12, 1945. H; ANDREWSGENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE Filed Jan.- 11, 1943' 5 Sheets-sheaf. 3

HmzoLD Ammews Inn/Ely roR ArroausY Jun 12, 1945. H.- ANDREWS VCENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACH INE V 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. '11, 1943llllll alll-llll mm 7 x mm mm ouazizou HA RDLD ANDREWS June '12, 1945.H. ANDREWS CENTRIFUGAL CASTING MACHINE s Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 11,1943 HAROLD ANDREW:

Invvnvro ATIO RM- r Patented June 12 1945 Application January 11, 1943,Serial No. 172M726 In Great Britain August l, 1941 3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in centrifugal casting machinesfor the centrifugal casting of articles such as cylinder liner castings,piston-ring pots or any similar articles.

In casting such articles some form of end plate or ring must be securedagainst the end of the mould during the casting operation to retain themolten metal and this plate or ring must be readily removable at the endof the operation to allow the casting to be withdrawn.

In U. S. Patent No. 2,023,562 there is described a centrifugal castingmachine in which an end plate or ring for a mould is so mounted that itis capable of moving axially relative to the mould and of swinging intoand. out of alignment with the end of the mould, the ring being drawnmechanically against the end of the mould during a casting operation andbeing moved axially away from the mould and swung up or down or to oneside at the end of the operation toallow thecasting to be removed in anaxial direction fromthe mould.

According to my present invention power-operated means are provided insuch a machine for actuating the end rin and limiting mechanism isincorporated so thatin one limiting position of the power means the endring is supported in alignment with the end of the mould while inanother limiting position the end ring is supported in an angularlydisplaced position in which drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan of the machine partly in section.

Figure 2 is a side elevation partly in section.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the front part of the mechanism forraising and lowering the end ring. 7

Figure 4 is a plan of the mechanism for raising and lowering the endring.

The machine itself need only be described briefly as it is similar ingeneral construction to that described in U. S. patent specification No.2,- 023,562 referred to above.

A hollow main shaft l0 rotatable about a horizontal axis is mounted inheavy. spaced roller journal bearings it and is adapted to be driven byan electric motor through a belt running over a pulley it on the shaft.A face-plate l3 on the forward end of the shaft has secured to it anumber of forwardly projecting arms M forming a carrier adapted to carrya readily interchangeable mould indicated in dotted lines at it.

During the casting operation the front end of the mould is partiallyclosed by an end ring it carried by a pair of arms ill pivoted at theirrear ends by pins it on slides it.

The rear end of each slide enters a spring box 2b on a crosshead ti anda compression spring 22 is arranged between the front end of the box anda collar it on the rear end of the slide. This arrangement allows theend ring to-yield under axial expansion of the mould. The crosshead itis secured to the front end of a tubular sleeve til which "extendsaxially through the shaft it and is axially movable therein to draw theend plate against and move it away from the front end of the mould. Inthe operative position of the end ring shown in dotted lines in Figure 2the ring is axial alignment with and is held against the end of themould and is positively located by the engagement of hushed holes 25 inthe end ring with the reduced ends 25 of rods 2i extending forwardlyfrom the face plate It.

' When the casting is finished the crosshead 2i is advanced by axialmovement of the sleeve 26 which disengages the end ring from the rodst1! and disengages brackets 28 on the arms ill from slides 29 carried bythe face plate. The end rin can swing down into the position shown infull lines in Figure 2 in which it is clear of the end of the'mould sothat the casting can be withdrawn. The end ring when released from themould is adapted to be supported and moved up into the operativeposition again by a yoke formed by a cross-member 30 and a pair of arms3! pivoted on brackets 32 extending forwardly from-the frame of themachine. This yoke is moved angularly by a link 33 pivotally connectedto the cenhe of the yoke and to a longitudinally movable ternallyscrew-threaded nut members 40 secured in the crosshead adjacent each endengage with parallel screw-threaded spindles 4| which are gearedtogether by a .chain connecting the sprockets 42. Thus rotation of thespindles 4| moves the crosshead and the sleeve 24 axially to draw theend plate against or move it way from the end of the mould.

The rear end of the plunger 36 which extends beyond that of the sleeveis similarly rotatably anchored by means of a bearing 43 in a crosshead44. The bearing is mounted on a short collar or sleeve 45 which has alimited sliding movement on the plunger against the action of a spring46 to allow for expansion. A

Nut members 4! anchored in the ends of the crosshead engage withparallel screwed spindles 48 which are geared together by a chainconnecting sprockets 49 so that rotation of the spindles 43 moves thecrosshead and the plungers 36 to advance and retract the ejector.

The spindles 4| and 48 are adapted to be coupled to and rotated bymechanism arranged at one side of the machine and actuated or controlledfrom the front end of the machine but this mechanism forms the subjectof a co-pending Patent Application and need not be described here.

Reverting now to the mechanism for raising and lowering the end ring itwhich is the subject of this application, the rod 34 which is slidablysupported in guides in the frame of the machine below and parallel tothe main shaft is screwthreaded at its rear end which works through arotatably anchored nut member H. A sprocket 12 secured to the nut memberis coupled by a chain to a sprocket 13 on the shaft of a reversibleelectric motor 14 mounted at one side of the machine so that the motorrotates the nut memher in either direction to advance and retract therod 34 and to rock the yoke and raise and lower the end ring.

The starting of the motor is conveniently effected by a push-button orother swich adjacent the front end of the machine while it is stoppedautomatically by switches 15, 16 adapted to be tripped by collars I1, 18adjustably mounted on the rod 34. These collars are set in suchpositions that when the motor is advancing the rod 34 to raise the endring it is stopped when the main shaft is put into motion and the molteniron introduced into the mould. The yoke is then brought up into aposition to support the end ring which is moved axially away from theend of the mould and out of engagement with its locating means and themotor 14 is reversely energised again to lower theend ring after whichthe casting is ejected and the cycle of operations repeated.

The motor 14 is fitted with an automatic magnetic brake 13 which is heldoff while the motor is energised but comes into action immediately themotor is de-energised to bring the moving parts rapidly to rest.

The collar 13 may also be arranged to control a switch in the circuit ofa motor for driving the main shaft so that this motor cannot beenergised until the yoke has been lowered again after the end ring hasbeen raised and drawn against the end of the mould.

Where the mechanism for moving the end ring axially towards and awayfrom the end of the mould is actuated by a motor this motor may beenergised automatically following the de-energising of the motor I4, atime lag being introduced by means of escapement or dash-pot mechanism.

I claim:

1. A centrifugal casting machine comprising a rotatable main shaft, amould carrier mounted on the front end of the shaft, an end ring forclosing the front end of the mould during casting, said ring beingmovable towards and away from the end of the mould and being capable ofswinging out of alignment with the end of the mould, means for movingthe end ring into and out of alignment with the end of the mould, amotor for driving said meanspa manually operated switch for energisingthe motor, a switch for de-energising the motor, means for automaticallyoperating the latter switch when the end ring reaches a limitingposition, anda magnetic brake automatically coming into operation tobring the moving parts to rest when the motor is de-energised.

2. A centrifulgal casting machine comprising a rotatable main shaft, amould carrier mounted on the front end of the shaft, an end ring forclosing the front end of the mould during casting, said ring beingmovable towards and away from the end of the mould and being capable ofswinging out of alignment with the end of the mould, a yoke pivotallymounted on the machine to rock about a horizontal axis and adapted toengage and support the end ring, a rod axially movable and parallel tothe main shaft, a link connecting the forward end of the rod to theyoke, screwand-nut mechanism for moving the rod axially, an electricmotor for driving said screw-and-nut mechanism, a manually operatedswitch for energising said motor, switches for de-energising said motor,and collars adjustably mounted on the axially movable rod for operatingthe latter switches as the yoke and end ring reach limiting positions.

3. A centrifugal casting machine comprising a rotatable main shaft, amain motor for driving said shaft, a mould carrier mounted on the frontend of the shaft, an end ring for closing the front end of the mouldduring casting, said ring being movable towards and away from the end ofthe 'mould and being capable of swinging out of alignment with the endof the mould, means including a longitudinally movable rod for movingsaid end ring into and out of alignment with the end of the mould, amotor for driving said means, a manually operated, switch for energisingsaid motor,

said collars. HAROLD ANDREWS.

